By Contributing Author Dango
If you’re considering a Ludwig Breakbeats kit, our comprehensive review can help you decide if it’s a good fit for you.
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The Ludwig Breakbeats Kit is a compact-size 4-piece kit that can pack up and easily go anywhere.
It was built with the influence of Questlove Thompson from The Roots and The Tonight Show, and designed at a price point that any player can have access to.
These drums are small and light, but they can pack a punch.
- Apartment-friendly and compact for the street musician
- Positioned on a riser for optimum reach, its compact 14x16" bass drum, 7x10" tom, and 13x13" floor tom creates a set-up for sculpting grooves in tight spaces
- The tonal center of Breakbeats is a 5x14" matching wood snare drum
At a Glance: Key Features of Questlove’s Ludwig Breakbeats Drum Set
The Breakbeats kit can be used in any style of music, but due to its small sizes, it will be most appealing to people playing jazz, hip hop, reggae, funk, fusion, as well as playing in quieter settings.
These drums have a very small footprint with a 14×16 kick, a 7×10 rack tom, and a 13×13 floor tom, as well as a matching snare that’s 5×14.
They also come with matching bags for easy transport as well as additional muffling options. They come stock with Remo heads and 4 different wrap finishes.
The Pros OF A Breakbeats KIT
Let’s take a look at the benefits of this kit.
- Size – The compact sizes leave a very small footprint for easy setup in bedrooms or apartments, as well as on small stages. For NYC drummers, it should be easy to take on the subway, which is one of its selling points.
- Price – The kit retails for about $450 which is competitive pricing for entry-level kits as well as the other micro-sized setups on the market.
- Options – Initially it came in three sparkle finishes that all look great, and even more finishes have been added over time.
- Bags – The bags come included, which is unusual at this price point.
- Sound – The drums tune up well and the kit sounds good. The kick and snare are especially easy to use in most settings. The toms work for a lot of styles even though they are quite small.
The Cons of a Ludwig Breakbeats Kit
Ludwig has done a nice job with this kit, but as with any drum kit in this price range, there are several things that could also be improved.
- No hardware is included, which means at the very least you’ll need a pedal, throne, snare stand, hi hat stand, and a couple of cymbal stands. If you are buying this kit for a beginner, that will add significantly to your cost. If you’re a pro adding another kit to your arsenal, this won’t be an issue.
- The heads are Remo heads and are fairly cheap, but that’s expected at this price point. If I bought the kit today, I would switch out all of the heads immediately for more expensive ones to improve the tones. Check out my recommendations for the best snare drum heads.
- The shells are made of very cheap Asian “hardwood,” which is pretty typical for beginner kits and anything under $500. These are not maple or birch, and they don’t even specify exactly what the wood is.
- The badges are just a sticker on the shell. I can understand all of the other things to cut costs but this small one bothers me. PDP, Tama, Pearl, and Sonor all have real badges for their tiny kits, and Ludwig should also.
- The snare drum doesn’t really have much of a snare bed cut into it, so it sounds fairly generic. I would most likely use a higher end snare with this kit if I were gigging on it for weddings or anything similar. But if it is cranked up, it has a nice crack.
- The kick riser doesn’t work too easily with many pedals. I found the PDP, DW and the Pearl risers to all work much better.
So while this kit is definitely more than adequate for a beginner, and can be a great cost-effective way to get started, just know that it’s a good idea to eventually upgrade some of the equipment over time, particularly if you start performing.
Who is the Ludwig Breakbeats KIt Best Suited For?
This kit is a great option for the beginning drummer because it’s not too expensive and the classy look will inspire younger players.
Just be aware that you still need hardware and cymbals, which can easily double the cost of this setup. I highly suggest getting a beginner hardware pack from any of the big companies to accompany this. PDP makes this reasonably-priced set.
This kit is also great for any smaller players or children who can’t reach the pedals easily on a full size kit. There are beginner kits from companies that do include hardware, and Pearl even offers one with cymbals (check out our review of the Pearl Roadshow kit to learn more about it).
But assuming you’re okay buying those separately, this is a great option.
This kit will work well for a lot of players in different styles. I think it will work sonically in a lot of music and different venues.
It mics up well and the kick can be super punchy as you might expect at its size. I think it works best in a small club setting, partially miked or even unmiked.
It’s not the best kit for metal or heavy rock, but it could still pass in some settings. I can easily see it on funk and fusion gigs, jazz, Drummer/DJ gigs, small church settings, weddings, talent shows, etc.
Breakbeats Drum Set Pricing
The 4 piece kit retails around $450, which is competitive when compared with similar setups out there. You can find beginner kits with hardware for that price, but the quality is much better here.
I wish it could include some hardware for the beginner players especially, but it’s really a great kit for the money.
The bags set this one apart as they don’t all come with bags.
This is a value-level kit and the quality of wood and the hardware on the shells prove that. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t sound good and wouldn’t work well for several gigs. Ludwig had to cut some costs somewhere.
Though this isn’t a pro level kit, it is still used by a lot of pros.
Alternatives to a Ludwig Breakbeats Kit
When looking at alternatives to the Breakbeats kit, there are a handful of other options from some of the big companies.
The PDP New Yorker, the Tama Club Jam, and the Pearl Midtown are similar configurations and all in the $400-$550 range.
Each has their high points that might set them apart a little bit but all of them are competitive and you would be hard-pressed to hear a big difference in a blind test.
Personally, I think Ludwig including the bags is worth the $50 difference from some of the other kits.
If you want something slightly higher end, check out our Sonor Martini review–it’s a great option with a small footprint, though it does cost a bit more.
Final Verdict on the Breakbeats Kit
The Breakbeats kit is a great option for Ludwig to offer, and the fact that it’s Questlove’s signature model makes it that much cooler.
While you can’t expect a $450 kit to sound like a $4000 one, you can still make it sound really good. The small sizes really lend themselves to playing hip hop grooves and similar styles.
Maybe the best thing about playing these small kits at gigs is people coming up to tell you how huge the kick drum sounds in the system.
This is a really fun addition to any drum collection. Pick up some hardware and cymbals and it’s a great starter kit as well.
- Apartment-friendly and compact for the street musician
- Positioned on a riser for optimum reach, its compact 14x16" bass drum, 7x10" tom, and 13x13" floor tom creates a set-up for sculpting grooves in tight spaces
- The tonal center of Breakbeats is a 5x14" matching wood snare drum
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